S1:E1 - Christian Maurice - Real Training & Nutrition Secrets Behind Hollywood Superstars.

G'day, it's Reece Adams here. Welcome to the show that punches you in the face with information, but in a good way. It's the Enterprise Podcast, proudly brought to you by the good people at Enterprise Fitness. For your health, fitness, nutrition, and comp prepping needs, see the coaches at Enterprise to get the job done right. Today's guest is Christian Maurice. I first met Christian when I did a private internship with Charles Poliquin in Canada, Montreal. Following this, I did a course with Andre Benoit where he spoke very highly of Christian, so I did a little more research and found out he's actually the one of the go-to guys for Hollywood actors and stuntmen needing to get in shape and fast. Let's get into it and I'll see you on the other side. Welcome Christian, and thank you for taking the time to join us today on the Enterprise Fitness Podcast Show. Can you please give us a brief insight into what you do and the kind of people you work with?

Okay, basically, right now, maybe 80% of my clients are from the movie industry. That includes directors, stunt performers, actors, actresses, you know, up to makeup artists. Anyone involved in the movie industry comes up to my office in Montreal.

Yeah, who would you say are the most recent ones that you've been dealing with?

The most rated one?

Recent ones, so the latest.

Oh, recent, sorry. You're on. Yeah, I worked with Michael Fassbender last summer. That was the, you know, in big names, if I can say that. Yes. It's one of the closest on X-Men. In fact, it was the pre— stunt for the movie, the movies he was doing after X-Men, which is Assassin's Creed. But I was, yeah, just training him. So basically, yeah, so it may be 80% is from the movie industry, but I also work, you know, in rehab with athletes, stunt performers. I've trained fitness competitors from regional to national champion to Arnold Classic winners. To basic transformation to extreme transformation with actors. So my range is pretty wide.

Awesome. What inspired you to get into coaching initially, and how did you transition to Hollywood actors and stuntmen?

Funny thing. First thing, I was 18 years old. I'm 42 now. I was 18, I was, well, I'm still 6 foot tall, but I was 61 kilos. So I can't tell I was a big guy. So it was just complex. So I went to the gym, liked it a lot, and then from there I really liked the gym. So I was a janitor, up to salesman, then trainer, and director of a gym, and then study and study and study. And this is how I get to the training part. And 25, 24 years after, I'm still still there. So this is where I come from.

Yeah, and how did you transition? How did you get into the Hollywood scene?

It was by accident. I was training a fitness competitor who, she was as well a stunt performer. So then her boss, like the stunt coordinator. He just saw that the big transformation, you know, for a fitness show they change a lot real fast. Yeah, so he was just asking who's that guy, so she just referred me to him, and then from then I start seeing him, and then he asked me if I can help you guys for a movie, and then from there it just word to mouth.

Yeah, yeah, and that's how it happens a lot of the time in the industry, doesn't it? If you can get results you're going to get clients. You don't really have to market yourself.

Yeah, if you look on the internet, you won't see my name a lot, so it's not from the publicity I do. You know, in the movie industry, the thing is, it's when the production calls you, it has to work. It's not like, okay, we'll try to do something with the actor You know, trying is not an option. Succeeding is the only option because there's a lot of money involved, you know, there's everything involved around the character, so they cannot change it. But if you lose it, then they just don't— they never call back. Yeah, yeah, it's not like, hey, I'll try the other one. No, they just don't call back. You don't have time to waste.

You definitely got to keep delivering results then.

Exactly.

What would you say keeps you passionate about what you do? Would you say you still have the same passion as when you started?

I would say it's even better or higher now just because when you start, you know, you don't— you take the clients you can take, you like it, but then as As your career, you get better at it, then you get different clients up to a point that you can choose your client. So now I do interview to take my clients, so I only have super clients. So it's really easy to be passionate about because everyone is so nice with me, if I can say that. Yeah, so, you know, it's like asking a painter that's— it's keep being passionate for 20 years You know, how we feel, how we keep on being passionate, you know, it's just because we all feel it's a hobby, it's not working. So we're just doing a hobby, but we live from our hobby. Yeah, yeah.

With your system, obviously you have to get results time and time again. So for that to happen, what kind of a nutrition system do you use?

I don't really call it a system. It's more of a way of viewing things, I would say, just because, you know, you deal with different animals, so we have different way of working with them. So people are the same, different type of physique, different type of Genetics, and I don't have a lot of time to play around, so I need to ask a lot of questions with the clients to know what, what I should use as techniques. So I have a lot of techniques, so not necessarily one system. The way I view it is I have my, you know, when I teach, I have my 5 pillars of success. I call it like that, but it's nutrition. So I talk, I deal with my nutrition. I can go from low carb, high carb, low fat, high fat, depending on the individual. And training is the other pillar. Functional medicine is another pillar. Macro modulation, when it comes to really, we really play with the food. And of course, the big one is psychology. So that's my fifth pillar. So we need to get into the head of the client or the athletes to make sure you'll get the good results.

Yeah, is there anyone that your system hasn't worked for? Have you found that you've had anyone who hasn't responded the way that you expected?

I'll just— I'm looking for wood, I just knock on wood.

So it hasn't happened, that's awesome.

Yeah, not, not with— but again, I have no option, so I need to be quick on my feet and just change. Regular people or average people, it's different because in the movie industry, I don't have option and their mind is 100% on it. Yeah, people, they got their life, they got kids, they got, you know, they have to work, they have to be they have these worries, they have this— but actors, they devote 100% of their time to training and nutrition, so that's different. So I'd say it's kind of easier to achieve results.

Yeah, because they're going to go above and beyond.

Yeah, exactly.

When I last spoke with Andre Benoit, he, by the way, speaks really highly of you. He said that your biggest specialty is understanding insulin and how to use body fat to read the body. Can we just touch on some of the stuff that you found in terms of— is it BioSyntra or BioPrint would you say that you use?

I don't use either. How can I explain that easily? I don't view the system as it As I learn it, let's say it like that. I just want to be clear. I measure, I do the 12 sites, but I look, I'm looking at variation from site to site. So not as a priority, but as where is it moving. How fast is it moving? For just to make it simple, let's say you lose, you have a good week, you lose 5% on each side, not as body fat percentage, but on each side. Let's say you take the chin, you take it again the next week or a few days after, and it's 5% lower. That's a good average. Okay, 4 or 5 to 6 days. If all the sites are at 5-6% and there's one that is maybe at 20 of loss, then I know his body's genetic is going toward that way, or whatever I'm using, I'm pushing that pathway. So the opposite is also true, meaning if it's all, let's say, 7-8, 7-8, 7-8 average, and there's one increasing 4%, then I need to understand why is this one doing the opposite of the other one. So for me, it's not about priority, but it's about looking at where it's going. So my first lecture is not important for me, like really zero, unless there's something very weird, like, I don't know, well, even then, Okay, let's say you have, uh, 5 millimeters everywhere but not in the legs. Legs are at 30. That would be kind of weird, but I wouldn't address it anyway because maybe just by changing the food or starting the food, we'll see the legs going down, uh, faster than the rest of it anyway. But if it stops, this is where I'll address it.

Yeah, so with the legs, how do you normally address the legs? Do you have like a protocol that you tend to use, or do you tend to just vary it depending on the client?

It really depends on the client. Those of you who really know me, they know my interview is quite long, so it takes an hour in a quarter to an hour and a half with my first consult with a client. So I really need to know how their body reacts, how they— what's their— what's happening with their stress level, their family, their every aspect of their life. What's the, let's say, the allostatic load on their life. So then I know it could be the liver that's not doing its job. That means that You know, legs are not dropping, but it may be because they're too stressed out, and this type of personality just stresses so much with digestion that they stop their digestion. So then for losing legs, I may ask them or give them something to relax. So it's not always this, this side I do this thing, or this side I do I need to have the whole picture, and according to that, I do an action. Let's say I ask, I ask this client to take XYZ supplement to make her relax or lower cortisol, if you know, if you want. Then I look at the results the next thing, the next pinching session. Let's say it's in 5 days. I do it again. Then I see, okay, I'm right on target. No, I'm not. Let's change it. Let's change it. So I'm always looking at how the body reacts to what I'm doing, and it takes a short amount of time that you just, you just know your client and you just know where to aim or what to use or how they react to what any supplement you're giving or any recommendation as for food.

Yeah, when you say 5% that they should drop, the measurement that is. Is that across the board, or do you find that some drops lower than that or some even faster in terms of like site to site?

Well, yeah, that's— that's not— there's no rule for that. So it could be 5% or it could be 28%. Okay, depending on how I fast or what supplementation I give or what, um, let's say I like to change only one thing each session. So I really believe in that, meaning if food is right, everything's going down, let's say, let's say average 5%, but I have this part that's not moving and I give carnitine, next thing I know I do this third pinching session or BioSig or the site measures, and then I'll see a 12% drop in the midsection. Then I know the current thing is doing its effect. So that was the missing link, was the current thing. Yeah, so it's— so anywhere the body fat— that— not the body fat, but the body— the, the percentage of variation is going, this is where I'll address. So, there's no specific rule of where it will happen and what's the average.

Yeah.

Because I look at all the numbers at once, meaning what's the average of every single site. If it's 5% and there's sites that are going the other way around, this is where I'll aim. So, I'm always looking at the weakest link. Where is the weakest link? Where is the weakest link?

Yeah, so if that makes sense. Yeah, absolutely, that makes sense. Um, on average, how much body fat would you say a client would drop on a weekly basis, or do you measure more frequently than that?

Uh, average client, if, if I want to make sure— okay, if I— let's say, um average client, not the extreme ones. Average clients, I would ask to be at 0.5% if I want them to stay lean. So 0.5% body fat loss per week on average, meaning they can lose 1.5% first week, 1.1% second week, things like that. But after that, I will ask them to be at 0.5%, 0.6%. Sorry, 0.5-0.6% per week. It's just from what I've seen, the body is more stable that way. Meaning if they cheat once, I won't see it in the measures. So the body fat will be consistent. If you go faster than that, but if your goal is to go faster, that's one thing. You know, if you want to lose 2% or 1.5% per week, that's good, but it's not sustainable. Meaning as soon as you change the diet, it will increase. It's very hard to stay at that state because— it's just my opinion, but when you change too fast the homeostasis, the body just wants to be back where it was. So if you were at 15% and you drop real fast to 10, it will tend to go back to 15. But if you decrease slowly, it's like the body is adapting each time and it doesn't want to go back as fast.

So it becomes almost like a gradually a new set point.

Yeah, exactly. Okay, let's pretend you have this client. Let's say Mary is— she's at 16 when you first see her. She's at 16 without looking at her food, just while partying, while eating anything she wants, but she doesn't increase to 30%. You know, there's this type of plateau where they stop at 16. So it may take a year or maybe 6 months, a year of that, that type of diet or that type of lifestyle, and then they will increase to maybe 17, but they will plateau there for a while. So I think if we do the opposite way, we have more stable body, meaning we do the opposite. So we do 16, then lower to 5, 15.5, then the body will tend to stay at that state. So doesn't want to go back as fast. It's like a new set line or—

Yeah, it's a lot more sustainable for the body. It's not as—

Exactly.

Not as rapid because the body does want to adapt. We just got to give it a chance to. Sometimes it's actually a good thing when it does adapt.

Yeah, exactly. That's, that's well said. The body is— sometimes it's good to have a plateau because a plateau can be in both ways, meaning the body doesn't want to be higher. You know, it's harder to go down, but it's harder to go high. So you just need to be patient or work your way around and then lower from there.

Yeah, with your clients, are they all face-to-face or do you get some online clients?

I have face-to-face and I have online too.

How do you—

I have clients from all around the world.

How do you find that you track the online clients? Do you have some systems?

Depending on what they have access to. And what the psychology is of the client, I may ask them just to weigh themselves. If, you know, let's say with actors and they were too far, or sometimes, you know, they're away from big cities because they're shooting there, then I will ask just the weight. Or if they stressed out about their weight, I will just ask them to send pictures You know, always the same distance, always same light, always the same, you know, in the same room, same time, same— then I just look at the pictures. But if they have access to— I work with few trainers that the client, my clients, just let's say I have a client in Sydney, they just go to your place, you take their measures, and then they give me the numbers, and then we talk. We do the consult like that. So I'm very open to anything that works.

Yeah, and what about training? Do you find it harder to basically make sure they're doing exercises correctly, or do you get them to send videos to you or anything like that?

No, I don't have a lot of clients. Okay, that's one thing with actors. I don't always recommend training just because a lot of them— because, okay, when we think in shape, we're always thinking of fitness shape. But a lot of actors, they just want to be small. Like actresses, they want to be small, but they don't want to look ripped. So when they just want to look small, I don't ask them to train. So that's easy.

So then, or I So then you purely do just nutrition then?

Yeah, just nutrition, or maybe some interval training, or maybe some cardio if it's a short period of time. I work, you know, I work with the tools I have, and sometimes I don't have any tools, so I just, you know, you just need to be creative. But I don't mind, let's say I have clients in Toronto, I don't mind having asking someone I know, like let's say Mike Demeters, I just call him. I would call him and ask him to train the client, and I will do the nutrition part. So yeah, so I don't have— again, I don't have a specific rule. It just depends on what type of client I have. And I have— I tend to have from the Skype consult, I tend to have a lot of trainers, so with trainers it's quite easy, meaning I just wrote the program and I just ask them to do it.

Yeah, do you ever catch up with them or is it completely over the internet?

Well, depending on the client and where they're from, it's mostly just on internet.

Okay.

But it's, you know, it's harder. You need to be— clients needs to be 100% compliant. Yeah, yeah, you know, otherwise it's very hard to manage because you don't see them physically. You don't know how hard they train. So everything else around it needs to be perfect.

Do you have them send you a food log or anything like that?

To begin with, again, it depends on the personality, just because some, some are just stressed out like crazy about writing it. But yes, I really like the food log. I need the time and an idea of the quantity.

Yeah, with this questionnaire that you keep mentioning, Andre said that it's probably the best one that he's ever seen. How did you go about developing this? Like, did you just gradually over time develop it, or is it something that you've just recently been using?

Uh, it's just from experience. I've used, I've used a lot of questionnaires, and now I don't use any per se. I use them, but I ask questions myself. That's why it takes an hour or an hour and a half to do the first consult. Just because I found out that questionnaires are good, but having the question— the client to answer it is much better. Just because you get the real answer, you know. Okay, example, what do you eat? Then they will do the food log 3 days, or they will tell you, oh, you know, I eat I ate salad for the dinner. I ate soup. You know, they all eat clean, right? And then you ask, what did you have this morning? Oh, I had crepes with, you know, maple syrup. Okay, good. What did you have last night? Oh, I had pizza. So people just tell you the average on questionnaire, the average that they feel or think it's good to say. But when you ask it, you can go around it and just play with it or play with the mind to have your real answer.

Yeah, dig a little.

There's a difference between saying yes and yeah.

Yeah.

What does that mean?

Absolutely.

What are you hiding? What's the— so, okay, so you thought it wasn't important for you, but it is for me. So, yeah. This is where I prefer asking all the questions myself.

Yeah, so you listen to tonality and also basically the words that they choose to use.

Yeah, the nonverbal, how they sit, how they talk about it, where they're looking, are they looking down, looking up, you know, are they shy, you know, are they— yeah. So I look at a lot of things.

So would you say you use a bit of NLP? Do you use NLP at all?

I don't use NLP per se. I use my own way of dealing with clients. Again, it's just from experience, a bit of psychology in there. That's just my way of working with clients. But again, there's some clients, you know, the big executives, they don't want to spend a lot of time with you in the office, so I would go much faster and just learn as weeks goes by just to make it more quick. But on average, I would say maybe 90% of my clients, if it's not more, I would take a load of time to know them well before doing any recommendation.

Yeah, so you get a brief history of what they've previously done. What they've responded best to, everything like that.

Exactly.

Would it be possible for you to share the questionnaire? Would that be possible, like, for you to send it to me and I can put it there for people to access, or is that something that you want to keep to yourself?

Well, I teach it in my course and it takes 2 hours to teach. Okay. Yeah, for me it's not just about— because, yeah, it wouldn't make sense just to have the questions. Just because for me it's not about the question, but it's what you want to get out of the questions. So, okay, I ask you how you sleep, but you sleep well. So if you look at the questionnaire, it's, "How's your sleep?" Yeah, but that's not what I mean. I want to see, okay, what's your routine like? Okay, do you have a boyfriend?

Yeah.

Is he sleeping well? No. Okay, that's why you're not sleeping. So for me, you need to have the whole picture. So the questions are very basic. You know, if you take meds and stuff like that, how is your energy, how is your PMS, and everything like that, digestion, with all the details. but I will manage or change my question according to the answers. But the most important thing is not about the real question, but again, it's what do you want to get out of it.

Yeah. So what do you think the most important parts of the questionnaire are? From my understanding of what I've heard is more how you interpret it and also getting the most information out of the person rather than the questions. Is that right?

Exactly, yeah, that's exactly what I think about that.

Do you use it with all your clients?

Yes, you know, the time I spend is different, but yes, every client. I think if you don't know your clients, it doesn't make sense to do any recommendation.

Yeah, because you're really just guessing then.

You're purely guessing or you're purely assuming, which is even worse.

Yeah, assumptions.

Because whatever you assume, you will be right. Let's say you have a client that doesn't have any energy. You know, have low libido, low energy, low— if you think it's low estrogen for women, then you're right. If you think it's low adrenals, then you're right. If you think it's low thyroid function, then you're right. If you, you know, it's— they, they all have the same symptoms more or less. So whatever you think is right, you will just confirm by a few questions.

But if you ask the right questions, you could probably narrow it down.

Sorry, repeat that.

If you were to ask the right questions, like you said, in the right way, you'd be able to narrow it down to what it really is.

Exactly. Yeah, so sometimes you'll be surprised at the real answer, what it is. Then you're like, okay, that's why it's not working. You know, like the husband is snoring like crazy. It's just weird question, but that's why you're not able to make the client sleep, you know, because of the husband. Yeah, no, ask question, then you're like, okay, low energy, okay, it's because— no, it's because you don't have deep sleep because the other one makes too much noise.

Yeah.

So, you know, it looks funny like this, but you know, you, as you ask question, you get a lot of these. So before asking are giving a lot of supplements to try things, then you ask what the environment looks like, and maybe I will address the issue of the husband to make her sleep.

Yeah, so no amount of magnesium is gonna— no amount of magnesium is gonna fix her sleep. It's more the case of you should be giving the magnesium to her husband.

No, exactly. Yes, but it's, it's funny how You know, I do a lot of consult with trainers or interns, and they give me, you know, case studies or this and that. Okay, what's— and then I ask more questions because I'm used to it, or I'm used to work like that. Well, what does she do for a living? Well, I don't know, I think it's in finance of something. Okay, what her schedule looks like? Does she have kids? Are they sick? Are they healthy? Maybe they are sick and they don't sleep, and that's what— and she's worried because of that. You know, it's just, if you know it, doesn't mean you always address it, but at least you know it. So that's okay. I'll give you something to relax, but you know, I won't make you sleep because it will take a few weeks because you're in that period of time. So we'll just get over it. So then you stress on something else or you address something else, but at least you know it. Yeah, so you're trying to fight something that, you know, I'll give you 25 caps of magnesium. Oh, it's still not working. Yeah, she doesn't want to sleep. She want to hear her baby crying, you know.

Yeah, yeah, you definitely go right, ask the, the right questions.

Exactly.

Who would you say the top 3 people that influenced you most are?

I would say my first trainer, like 25 years ago, just because— okay, you understand I was 6 feet tall, I was 60 kilos, so very, very tiny guy, so my bones are not —big, they are very tiny. And I want to look like— do competition one day, you know, in bodybuilding, which is— yeah. But he never destroyed my goal, but at the same time wasn't— never was delusional, meaning you can make it. He said, oh no, you know, you're a tall guy, slim, but if you build muscle, you "You will look bigger than someone has big bone and no muscle." Just because of definition. You will always look more muscular. And you'll have this and you'll have that. So he was pretty honest and that gives me a very good motivation. So I still use whatever he taught me at that time. And he end up being my boss, you know, like first one who teach me how to train people. How to deal with people, how to react with people, how to sell, how to everything. So I think that's a big— we all have these mentors that you just, after a while, just think, "Yeah, this one really helps me out." I would say Charles has been— Charles Poliquin has been a big one. I've been following him for years and years, even before he did the— Biosignature, so for training and for when, yeah, we were younger. So he helped me to want to increase my knowledge or view the business in another way. You know, before we used to— it, you know, if you go back to 20 years ago, there wasn't so much of personal training business. So we were all working in big gyms and just don't— no one was making a lot of money or living easy while training people. But now he put this aspect in business that helped out, and from the lot of experience he has, he gave me a lot. And A third one, you know what, I would say my clients. I know it's very general, but I'll tell you why. Just because, you know, the more open you are, the more you learn from your clients, and they can teach you so much when you're, you know, you understand or listen to them a lot. 'You know, I was doing that thing and it really helps me out.' And this is where I learned so many, or just add so many tools to my practice. Just because I deal with a lot of fitness competitors and stuff that they've tried, you know, tons of technique, tons of crazy stuff. So then, 'Okay, let's try it. Let's try this one. Let's try the other one.' And just learning from experience. So for me, it's, you know, I couldn't be here if it wasn't for my clients, but not just from the results they got, but from what they gave me back as far as learning.

That third answer is a very good answer. I don't think many people would think of that.

Yeah, I'm very— yeah, I really think it's— I don't see that a lot, or I see it only with very experienced trainers. You know, they will say that, oh, I learned that from my client. I learned that just because at one point you just let your ego out and you just, okay, I really want to learn. What did you do? Oh, I did that. Did it work? Yes or no, I felt worse. Oh yeah, it's supposed to work, but you feel worse. Okay, let's try something else. What do you— would you do? Oh, when I do that thing, it really helps me out. Okay, let's try it. You know, and then you learn a lot.

Yeah, because your client knows how their body is responding to things. You just got to ask.

Yeah, exactly. Sometimes, you know, some people You ask it and by the type of answers you just know that you don't need to do a lot of interview about it just because, yeah, they might be delusional or they don't observe well. But some people will be very precise on what's working and what's not working.

Yeah, definitely client to client.

It's much faster to work with them. Yeah, I think women are much easier for me to work with just because of that. You know, a lot of trainers are afraid of, you know, women in their 40s, complicated, and when they have issues or when they have problem to lose weight. But when you ask a lot of questions to them, you have a lot of great gems because women tend to feel a lot of things, meaning, you know, when I eat this I feel like that, or my PMS is worse, or I have headache. But with guys, it's more of, you know, I think it's good, you know, I think it's okay, I don't feel that much. So it's very vague. With women, it's more often more precise, unless the guy has tried, you know, a lot of technique or a lot of training technique, a lot of diets. And you know, they're up to the same point.

Yeah, I'd have to agree with that. I found that with clients as well. What would you say the top 3 resources or courses you'd recommend for those wanting to basically be able to get the same results that you get for your clients?

Sorry, the top 3?

Resources or courses. You can include your own because I know you do a course.

Yeah, I would do, I would recommend my own course, my Body Transformation Seminar. It depends on the level of the trainer. One guy I really like, or course I really like, is the Precision Nutrition one. You know, from John Berardi? Yeah. Anyone that doesn't have a lot of knowledge, general knowledge, there's a lot of gems in there if you can read it well. There's a lot of knowledge from experience in there, so I think it's one good course, and there's few, you know, how to play with food, how to play with things, and address the psychology of a client. Yeah, so I like this one, and I never met John Berardi, so I'm not biased in no way. As far as training, I would recommend Charles Poliquin, of course. If it is for program design or periodization or things like that, even Andre. Yeah. You know, you spoke about Andre Benoit. What I really like about Andre is he's, okay, first, down to earth, but what I really like is he learned a lot from experience. And for me, right now, it's more important, but I really recommend people learning from people that has a lot of experience with clients, not just one result you saw on Facebook or internet, but they've dealt with a lot of clients. They did so many errors, they did, you know, I did— if I look at my protocols, let's say I was giving 7 years ago, you know, my head go crazy. You know, I really recommend that, but you know, you learn so much and then you try it and then you're like, okay, that doesn't make sense. Let's try something else. But then you can teach that. But you know, there's the difference in the theory and the practice. So in theory, a lot of stuff is supposed to work. But in practice, you know, it's very different when it's time to apply. So yeah, I don't know, you know, besides— no one comes to my mind right now. But these two guys, Charles and John Berardi, there's some that, you know, you can learn a lot from them. But there's so many more guys, but yeah.

Yeah, they're good answers. I've learned a lot from Charles as well. I actually bumped into you when we did the private internship in Montreal. In Montreal, yeah. It was very cold.

It is colder now. Today is -22.

Oh, no way.

Yeah, it's kind of cold.

Out of all the celebrities that you've trained, Christian, who would you say that is your favorite and why?

Uh, you know, I like them all in each of their own ways. Um, which one?

Not gonna play any favorites.

I really like— what's his name? There was— I will get it back, but there was one guy came to see me. He's a European guy. He was here to do a movie with Paul Walker, one of his last movies, and he come to see me for fat loss. You know, these, these type of actors that can really get into the skin of their character, it's any one of them. I had a, you know, I told you the one that one client that she had to, to, her character was a mannequin, so she needed to have weight issues and, you know, all the mannequin stuff, but they really get into their character, so they're like becoming their character. So it's very special to work with them because you feel like you're dealing with two different people or person. So any actor that is very good, it's very interesting to work with. But yeah, it is, you know, dealing with actors could be also— if you have a very— if you're a very driven, clear-minded person, It's different to work with actors because they are very artistic. By being very artistic, they don't on average think like, you know, like an accountant who is very technical in the way of his thinking. So if you're not able to adapt, you will think they're all crazy. So yeah, so it could be— could go both ways, but you really need to be able to adapt and learn how to talk to them.

Who would you say is your least favorite and why?

You can be honest here. Yeah, yeah, honestly, I— it's a different experience from All of them. So I cannot— did I have a very bad experience? No. Honestly, this one is very hard to answer.

Do you have many clients that try to resist changes and/or try to tell you that they are making changes and they don't? Do you get many of those clients? As regular clients? Regular or even as actors?

Actors, I've never seen it. Just again, just because it's a different way of working. But regular clients, do you mean just having trouble to change or they have trouble to be compliant? Compliancy.

So you might tell them to make certain changes and they might tell you straight to the face, yes, I made those changes, but the results say otherwise?

Okay, I don't— nowadays, since a few years, I never have that. I never had that. I don't have it anymore just because I addressed it. I addressed it in the first meeting.

You get them to open up.

Yeah, exactly. So I want them to be really honest on what they're doing, and they're part of the process. So we're both working as a team, and when we, you know, we look at the percentage variation, they know it, and it takes just few weeks to know what they're doing. Okay, you know, you see that change here, 7% increase in that area, that's either medication Or that's alcohol. So what did you have? So the first weeks they will tell me, oh, you know, I had this drink because I was partying. There was the birthday of my husband, whatever. Okay, so now I know what's happening. So next time we see the same profile, okay, what was the alcohol? And then they just smile. So it's, it's, yeah, it's just because I changed the way I work with clients to make sure they tell me everything.

Yeah. How was it training such a big wrestler like Robert Mallett? Is that how you say his name? Mallett. Mallett. Yeah. He's a big dude, 6 foot 10 and 160 kilos.

Yeah, that's quite a big guy. But, you know, you asked me about the favorite ones. That could be one of my favorite, the one I worked with, just because he's so nice and he's a shy guy. So he looks, he looks very impressive, but it's like, um, like a teddy bear. Yeah, so very sweet, very mellow, very, so very, very nice. Very nice guy, but he's, you know, giant. Yeah. So they asked me on Immortals to, uh, make sure he was able to jump and land on his feet because he want— he wants to jump from a— and, you know, being that tall, they all have knee issues. So I had to, uh, address or make sure it was okay to jump or land, I should say, to make sure he wouldn't be injured in the movie. But I mostly did fat loss with him and no training. We didn't have time to train.

Okay, so just getting him to drop the weight took a bit of pressure off his knees, would you say? Yeah, exactly. Awesome. So you didn't do any training at all? Like, you didn't get to assess him or anything like that, so it was purely nutrition?

I did the assessment just to know, you know, what was— if something was wrong, but I didn't need to address it. Okay. Because I don't have, you know, the shooting was very close, so we had like 2 weeks, so, you know, no amount of training will increase strength in the you know, the legs for a 2-week period are not enough to make you jump from—

Yeah, the biggest effect would be getting him to drop that weight, so to take the force away.

Yeah, exactly.

What would you say the best way you've found to track if a program or nutrition plan is being successful? Do you use— I know you use caliper testing, but do you also use girth measurements? Caliber and scale weight, or anything else?

Basically just caliber and scale weight, and yeah, the combination of that, but as well as my eyes.

Yeah, eyes are very important.

You know, it's the same thing with fitness shows. I don't do— I don't train people anymore for fitness, but I was always saying to my clients or athletes Okay, no judge will be with their calipers on stage to know what your body fat will look like or what's the numbers. They don't care about that. They care about the look. So I'll use my eyes to make sure the look is okay, but I'll just measure for my own purpose. But at one point, I wouldn't tell what the numbers are, just to make sure that, you know, we don't play with the psychology of the athlete.

Yeah, we're a big fan of that as well at Enterprise. We— the first assessment, we won't tell them the body fat, but we will tell them at their second measurement how much they've progressed.

Yeah, that's, that's very good. Because when you try—

our first session that we do is all nutrition, and when you're trying to get a lot of information across, the last thing you want them to be thinking about is their body fat and where it should be and getting concerned about that. Exactly.

Yeah, I totally agree with that.

What would you say your favorite 3 supplements for sleep are?

Magnesium, because that's an easy one. It's often— I, I still like this ZMA, you know, all supplements that used to work but we just won't recommend it.

What brand would you say for the ZMA?

We have one in Canada, it's just sold here. It's just basic zinc gluconate and magnesium glycinate. Okay. With a little bit of B6 in it. Yeah. So it works well, low dosage, don't need to go crazy. I still like melatonin. Just because it's also helping in the dorsal curve. If it's working. But it's not a supplement, but first thing I would address is life. Yeah. Like creating the routine. So many clients, tons of clients, they're very jacked up, up to the, you know, to the a second before they go to bed and they think they will sleep like that. Okay, you need to calm down before. So they're still working, working, working, doing this and that, or TV or loud noise, and then they want to sleep. And, oh, it takes me an hour to, you know, to sleep. Like, okay, we need to change the routine, you know. We need to lower the, uh, the light. We need to lower the sound. We need to create the environment that you'll be sleeping. Yeah. I think it's step number one that a lot of trainers are not addressing.

They're just rushing.

Yeah, they're trying to kill it, but knowing what's happening before is really helpful.

Treating the symptom rather rather than the cause. Exactly. What would you say your favorite 3 supplements are for inflammation and gut health?

Um, I really like Wobenzyme. W-B-E-N-Z-Z-Y-M-E. I don't know if you have that. That's a brand of, um, enzymes that you take in between meals, uh, that are really good for inflammation and are very good as well for gut health. And I have, uh, um, great results with that. Um, I have a brand of probiotics, but they only sell it here in Canada. It's from New Roots, but it's a mix of 8 probiotics with the S. boulardii in it. So this one is, uh, really works well, and I deal with a lot of clients with, uh, health issues, uh, liver, uh, gut issues. And the simplest one, you know, curcumin and glutamine. Yeah, they used to work back in the days. They're still working today. So basic things. Basic things, but again, stress is a big element to consider in any gut health issues.

Would you get them to put turmeric on their food as well, or do you find that turmeric doesn't have much of an effect, or you have found it helps?

Uh, it helps, but not as much as supplements. I think it takes a lot of it to work. I know there's some people say that it's very good, but from experience, I've tried it with clients and, you know, you just don't get the same action or same results.

Yeah, but combining it wouldn't hurt, so—

Exactly. You know, that's exactly what I ask my client. You know, if you want to add up curcumin in your food, then it's very good. If you want to add up curcumin every day, that's even better. But if you don't want to eat all your meals with curcumin in it, then, you know, we'll just give you supplement.

Yeah. Are you a fan of sodium loading or water manipulation? Do you find that some of your actors need that or Do you not need to do anything like that?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Depends on the timeframe I have. That's really a look thing. So if I only have 6, 7 days to work with a client, I will work with water.

Yeah, could you give us an idea of what or how you would manipulate it?

Oh, it's just easy stuff. It's just, you know, if I go back 6 days, I will do first 3 days with salt and just cut the salt for last 3 days and keeping the water very elevated and then give some, some type of herbals, you know, for kidneys detox type of liquid. And I just add up to water to make sure they pee a lot. Yes. So it's very— and then I cut water maybe 18 hours before. So 18, yeah, around that, depending on the shape and all. So I just, yeah, I use the same technique. I've tried different ones and this one always works, at least works with my client. You know, sometimes you use this technique, it works, but you use it and it's not working. But maybe it's because your preparation is different. It's different, meaning carbs are maybe higher, carbs may be lower, fat may be higher, fat may be lower. But the way I prepare clients, if I mix up sodium loading with it, it usually works very well. Yeah, so there's no— I don't think there's wrong or right answer. It's just How you prepare your clients before that, and if you know, and how you prepare your sodium loading.

Yeah, what's one thing that you've changed this year, or last year even, because this year it's still, it's only January, that's made a big impact on the way that you do your clients' training and nutrition? Could you narrow it down to one thing?

That's a funny one. It's, I added in my, when I give my course, there's one line, one module I call it the secret, and one of the secrets is to rely more on your instinct. Meaning the more you study, the more you need to rely on your instinct. It's, you cannot apply that for a newbie, meaning a new trainer, because you need to have a lot of experience But the more you rely on your instinct, you know that feeling that, uh, I think I should use that. It's just about your brain saying it though. I've seen it so many times, you should use it. But so, so many times again, you just, oh yeah, I read, I read that stuff. I think yeah, I'll go with that. But your gut feeling was saying no, you should try the other one. Usually your gut feeling is much more precise. You know, for me, it's like a hockey player. You know, they practice, practice, practice, but in the game, they're just relying on their instinct. It's not about being precise and being— they just go with it. But you know, the more you study, the more you use technique, the more you feel the clients, the more you talk with clients, you know, the more you rely on your instinct. So it's not a tool we can share, but it's something we can learn, maybe.

Needs to be developed. Exactly. Do you get your client to— your clientele to get blood work done? And if so, what do you look for?

Yeah, all my clients I ask to have blood work if possible. So all of them, I just use I'm a data guy, so I compile data in my head and in my computer. That's where I see my tendencies and I see everything, and this is where I learn from. But I asked basic tests to begin with, just a regular blood test, you know, cholesterol and all that. And again, I'm more interested in tendencies Meaning, okay, this is what— this one is a bit weird. Let's measure again. It's 6 months, and then you look at it after a follow-up, after diet, after supplement, and most of the time you don't need to address anything. It just, you know, it's taken care of just because of the food. But I like to see, you know, like ALP for zinc status and stuff like that. But I wouldn't— I'm just looking in my head to see with a client what— I don't think I ever used a blood test to do my first recommendation, meaning I use it as a tool, but it wouldn't make a big difference in what I choose unless, you know, they're very sick. Are they coming to see me because for health issues in a functional medicine way. But you know, for regular body fat transformation or body fat, uh, body transformation, I just use it as a tool.

Yeah, it's just one of many tools, isn't it? Yeah, exactly. I've got a question here from our functional health practitioner Christine. She said, do you use functional health practitioners for for your clients? I just heard that you mentioned that you do, and if so, you're looking for one to send clients to. Sorry, repeat that. If you are, if you do use functional health practitioners, are you currently looking for one to send clients to in Australia?

If I need one in Australia, maybe, but right now I'm doing my own, the own test with— I do them myself. And I work with a few doctors in the States, so if I have a client, an actor in Australia, I mean, if I need recommendation, I will send them there.

Thanks, Christian. Upcoming courses, what would you say your upcoming courses are and when?

I need to confirm my date, but I'm really looking for going in June in Australia, Sydney and/or Melbourne. I think you should come to Melbourne.

I very think you do.

So I may go to both, and you know, I'm all I'm changing my website because if you see it, you know, well, please don't, because it's old and it's not nice at all. It's old information. I'm not big into media, so now I'm getting into media. I'm getting into 2016. I'm still in the '80s, I don't know why. Yeah, so it will be up to date. All my courses will be on it. But for sure, I want to go to Australia. In fact, it's already in my schedule, but I need to confirm like with you guys to make sure I have the right date and right weekend. But I'm sure looking forward to it. I will go again in London. You know, I did the all UP tour. I did last year Hong Kong and Singapore. And London. I did Dubai, so I may go back again this year to Dubai. I'm looking for Ireland, Toronto for sure, Quebec City for sure. So yeah, I think there's 12 places I'm giving my seminar right now, so it will be all online in maybe a month or so.

Traveling a lot like that must make it hard with clients face-to-face? Do you just have to do online then with a lot of them?

I really manage well my schedule, meaning I will go out one week, come back for at least two weeks to see my clients, and go back again for a week. And I never go for, let's say, two months in a row. So I try to place one a seminar per month. That way I'm sure I can see client physically. That's a good strategy. Yeah, because I don't want to— you know, I really like my clients and I want to, I want to make sure they're okay. Yeah, or they're still improving.

It's very kind of you, very thoughtful.

But the other thing I really I really think you learn so much from experience. And it's not about, you know, I've been doing it for 24 years, but I'm still learning. And I think if you teach, it's one thing, but if you're still doing clients, it puts you aside from the theory and more into the practice side of teaching. Because you can do a lot of recommendations, but when you try them in the office, you're like, okay. So when I'm teaching, I'm more about the experience I had. So, okay, it says that in theory, I never experienced it, or experience it, or having the same results they're saying. I don't know why. Maybe it's me, maybe it's the dosage, maybe whatever. But I, you know, you have this experiment feeling out of it. So I think it's more helpful.

Thank you again for your time, Christian. How can the listeners go about finding you?

Again, my website, which is christianmoris.com, but you can go on my fan page on Facebook, which is just Christian Morris. Or my personal one right now. So any— it's really easy to find me.

Easy. Yeah, easy. Alright, thank you very much, Christian. I'll let you get back to your day. It's nighttime for you, isn't it?

Yes, it's about 7:30 at night.

I still give you enough time to wind down, hey?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I have enough. All right, thank you very much. Okay, bye-bye.

See you. Bye-bye. Thank you for listening. A lot of gems to be put into practice because knowing and not doing is not really knowing at all. Check out our website for more information at melbournepersonaltrainers.com or on our hotline 1300-888-888. 888-787-143. Remember to subscribe by downloading the eUator Apps eBook, which is full of information to keep your knowledge-thirsty brains growing. Also, please leave us some feedback on our iTunes channel. We'd love to hear from you.